Pot decriminalization bill passage "highly unlikely" says Cuomo

A bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana appears dead for the legislative session , now that Republicans in the Senate say they won't be acting on the bill.

Governor Cuomo says it’s “highly unlikely” that his bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana will be taken up by the Senate before the legislative session ends on Thursday.

Cuomo has proposed that public possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana be decriminalized and classified as a violation, not a misdemeanor. The measure is in response to protests over New York City’s stop and frisk law, where thousands of young black and Hispanic men have been arrested when small amounts of pot were found on their person.

Now the governor says the Republican led State Senate is facing “tremendous” political pressure not to decriminalize marijuana.

“The Senate got a lot of blow back,” Cuomo said. “Pardon the pun.”

And the governor says there have been misunderstandings about what marijuana decriminalization means, and says perhaps the public needs more time and “education” to accept the notion.